Detergent formulators are faced with the task of devising products to remove a broad spectrum of soils and stains from fabrics. Chemically and physico-chemically, the varieties of soils and stains ranges the spectrum from polar soils, such as proteinaceous, clay, and inorganic soils, to non-polar soils, such as soot, carbon-black, byproducts of incomplete hydrocarbon combustion, and organic soils. Detergent compositions have become more complex as formulators attempt to provide products which handle all types concurrently.
Formulators have been highly successful in developing traditional dispersants which are particularly useful in suspending polar, highly charged, hydrophilic particles such as clay. As yet, however, dispersants designed to disperse and suspend non-polar, hydrophobic-type soils and particulates have been more difficult to develop. Without wishing to be limited by theory, it is believed that the first step for dispersion formation is the adsorbance of the soil dispersing agent onto the soil of interest. For clay-like soils, the soil dispersing agent must adsorb onto either a negatively charged surface or positively charged edge. For organic particulates, the soil dispersing agent must adsorb onto a hydrophobic surface with little or no charge. Hence, for polar soils, like clay, a dispersing agent with some charge, such as charged, highly ethoxylated polyamines, are employed. However, these charged dispersing agents have no drying force for adsorbing onto organic, non-polar particulates.
It has now been discovered that compositions comprising substantially noncharged, alkoxylated, especially ethoxylated/propoxylated, polyalkyleneamine polymers can be used to provide effective, improved soil dispersing (especially on non-polar soils) in wash liquors. Further, said ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymers appear to whiten/clean fabrics and boost the cleaning performance of hard surface and dishware detergent compositions.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved cleaning and soil dispersing compositions using substantially noncharged, ethoxylated/propoxylated polyalkyleneamine polymers. It is another object herein to provide a means for dispersing soils and providing whitening/cleaning benefits to fabrics and dishware using the soil dispersing systems of this invention. These and other objects are secured herein, as will be seen from the following disclosures.